Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey believes they ‘can go anywhere and win’, a theory which may well be tested in the GUINNESS PRO12 play-offs as they have opted to field a largely second string side against Glasgow Warriors in Saturday’s final round.
GUINNESS PRO12: Saturday, May 16
GLASGOW WARRIORS (2nd) v ULSTER (4th), Scotstoun Stadium, 3pm (live Sky Sports 1 HD/BBC Radio Ulster MW/highlights TG4)
Team News: Ulster head coach Neil Doak has made 12 changes to the side that drew with Munster for Saturday’s GUINNESS PRO12 match against Glasgow Warriors.
With a total of six players having picked up injuries last weekend and with the province already guaranteed a play-off place, only Franco van der Merwe, Louis Ludik and Chris Henry are retained from the side that faced Munster, with Ireland Under-20 centre Sam Arnold picked for his first start for the province.
Neil Doak has named a strong bench for the round 22 fixture with internationals Rory Best, Tommy Bowe, Ruan Pienaar, Paddy Jackson, Roger Wilson and Iain Henderson all kept in reserve.
The six players nursing injuries from the derby clash with Munster are Callum Black (hamstring), Wiehahn Herbst (toe), Darren Cave (shoulder), Jared Payne (ankle), Dan Tuohy (hip) and Peter Nelson (hamstring), while top-scoring winger Craig Gilroy, who missed that game with a hamstring injury, also remains sidelined.
Andrew Warwick will line out at loosehead prop for his first start since January, with Rob Herring playing his 70th game for Ulster at hooker. Emerging Ireland player Ricky Lutton starts his first game of the season at tighthead having recovered from the injuries that have restricted his involvement in the campaign so far.
Lewis Stevenson, who recently captained Ulster Ravens against Munster ‘A’, features in the second row alongside South African van der Merwe, who runs out for his 27th game of the campaign and completes his first regular season for Ulster having played in all but one of the province’s matches.
Robbie Diack, who won his 150th cap for Ulster last weekend, starts at number 8, with Clive Ross named at blindside flanker and Ireland international Henry captaining the side from openside.
Paul Marshall plays his 22nd match of the season and starts at scrum half, while Ian Humphreys, who is currently third in the PRO12 Golden Boot standings, is selected at out-half.
Stuart McCloskey, who was named BT Young Player of the Year at the recent Ulster Rugby Awards, forms a new centre partnership with the 19-year-old Arnold, who won Hughes Insurance Academy Player of the Year.
Michael Allen, who will play for Edinburgh next season, will line out on the left wing with Rory Scholes on the right and South African Ludik continuing at full-back. Props Kyle McCall and Bronson Ross join the aforementioned internationals on the bench.
Meanwhile, Al Kellock returns to the Glasgow Warriors team for their final round showdown with play-off rivals Ulster. The Warriors captain, who replaces the injured Tim Swinson in the second row, could be making his final appearance at Scotstoun, following the announcement that he is to retire from rugby at the end of the season.
With an increased capacity of around 10,000 it will be Glasgow’s biggest home crowd for a regular season game and tickets for this match sold out in record time.
Following last weekend’s defeat to the Ospreys, Sean Lamont returns from injury and replaces Niko Matawalu on the left wing, with the Fijian international moving to scrum half in place of Henry Pyrgos. The only other change to the back-line sees Finn Russell come in for Duncan Weir at out-half.
In the pack, Dougie Hall replaces Pat MacArthur at hooker and Rossouw de Klerk returns from injury to take the place of Jon Welsh at tighthead prop. Kellock comes into the second-row to make his 156th appearance for the club.
Josh Strauss moves to blindside flanker replacing Rob Harley, with Adam Ashe returning from injury at number 8. Mike Cusack also makes a return from injury for this round 22 fixture – the fit-again prop has been named among the replacements.
GLASGOW WARRIORS: Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Richie Vernon, Peter Horne, Sean Lamont; Finn Russell, Niko Matawalu; Ryan Grant, Dougie Hall, Rossouw de Klerk, Jonny Gray, Al Kellock (capt), Josh Strauss, Chris Fusaro, Adam Ashe.
Replacements: Pat MacArthur, Gordon Reid, Mike Cusack, Leone Nakarawa, Ryan Wilson, Henry Pyrgos, Duncan Weir, Peter Murchie.
ULSTER: Louis Ludik; Rory Scholes, Sam Arnold, Stuart McCloskey, Michael Allen; Ian Humphreys, Paul Marshall; Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Ricky Lutton, Lewis Stevenson, Franco van der Merwe, Clive Ross, Chris Henry (capt), Robbie Diack.
Replacements: Rory Best, Kyle McCall, Bronson Ross, Iain Henderson, Roger Wilson, Ruan Pienaar, Paddy Jackson, Tommy Bowe.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Neil Paterson, Sam Grove-White (both Scotland)
Television Match Official: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Glasgow Warriors to win: 1/5; Draw: 25/1; Ulster to win: 16/5
Pre-Match Quotes: Roger Wilson (Ulster) – “If you look over the course of the 80 minutes (against Munster), we’re pretty happy with the quality of the rugby that we played and looking back at the video, we created plenty of opportunities to score tries.
“We probably made a few too many handling errors, which meant we were not as clinical as we would have liked. There’s a good chance we’ll meet them down the line (in the knockout stages) and we’ve got to take confidence from the way we performed against them. In terms of our performances, we’re where we want to be if we can just tidy up a few areas of our game.
“Going into the last game, this is what the organisers want and it’s what the supporters want. There’s the added excitement of having all the games kicking off at the same time. Anything can happen and even the teams below the top have a lot to play for in terms of qualification for Europe, so it should be an exciting afternoon on Saturday.
“Whatever team we put out we will go hell for leather because if we don’t then and another result goes our way, say the Connacht-Ospreys game, then we may regret it. Undoubtedly we’ll give it 100%.
“I have personally never played at Scotstoun but Glasgow have got a great record and tend to play better rugby at home. With the top three teams on even league points, they’ll be looking for maximum points so it might open up.”
Gregor Townsend (Glasgow Warriors) – “Ulster are a really strong side who have been playing excellent rugby and we know we’ll face an extremely tough challenge at Scotstoun on Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve had some titanic battles with Ulster over the last few seasons and they play with a lot of passion and competitiveness and they will fight hard for everything. With all the games being played simultaneously, it will be an exciting afternoon of rugby and we’re very motivated to improve on last week’s performance against the Ospreys.
“Playing in front of around 10,000 supporters at home for only the second time in our history is sure to be a great experience for our players. We will be doing all we can to reward our supporters with a home semi-final the following week.”
Top Scorers – 2014/15 GUINNESS PRO12: Glasgow Warriors – Points: Peter Horne 99; Tries: Peter Horne, Niko Matawalu, DTH van der Merwe 6 each; Ulster – Points: Ruan Pienaar 93; Tries: Craig Gilroy 11
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Friday, November 25, 2011 – Glasgow Warriors 17 Ulster 9, Firhill Stadium
Friday, August 31, 2012 – Ulster 18 Glasgow Warriors 10, Ravenhill
Friday, February 22, 2013 – Glasgow Warriors 20 Ulster 14, Scotstoun Stadium
Friday, September 13, 2013 – Ulster 12 Glasgow Warriors 13, Ravenhill
Friday, April 18, 2014 – Glasgow Warriors 27 Ulster 9, Scotstoun Stadium
Saturday, October 11, 2014 – Ulster 29 Glasgow Warriors 9, Kingspan Stadium
MATCH FACTS:
– Glasgow Warriors have been in the top two of the GUINNESS PRO12 table since round 10 but are in danger of not qualifying for a home play-off if they do not win this game, and even then a bonus point may be needed
– The Warriors lost out to the Ospreys in Swansea in round 21 and have not lost successive PRO12 fixtures since rounds 15 and 16 last season
– Glasgow are the only side with a 100% home winning record in the league this season and have not lost at Scotstoun Stadium in the PRO12 since the Dragons were the visitors in November 2013
– A victory in this game will ensure that Ulster will finish higher in the table than Glasgow but it may still not be enough to guarantee their play-off game is held in Belfast
– The Ulstermen have been defeated only once in the PRO12 since round 12: 26-22 at the Dragons on March 8
– Ulster are going for a clean sweep of victories over Scottish opponents this season. They beat the Warriors 29-9 at Kingspan Stadium in round 6 but have not achieved a PRO12 season’s double over the Scotsmen since 2010/11
– Ulster’s only previous victory at Scotstoun came in the European Cup in October 2012
– This game will also see the Hawk-Eye system in operation again, as part of trials with Sky Sports and World Rugby
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